Apothegms and Observations XLVIII

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  1. Have we fully grasped that the ordinary way God pleases to work in the world is through His Church?
  2. What disgusts God that does not disgust you? Or do you believe that nothing disgusts God?
  3. It seems to me that many, though not all, critiques of capitalism are simply critiques of greed. But it has always been known that capitalism fails if love fails.
  4. Have you prayed that God would remove your greed?
  5. It is hard to love the smelly. And it is harder to love the morally smelly than the physically smelly.
  6. In the Iliad, it seems clear that the Will to Glory is the driving motivation for the Greek soldier, rather than the Will to Power. But probably Nietzsche could have invented a way to make Glory a means to Power.
  7. Perhaps the fundamental mistake of the Will to Power is the lack of distinction between Spirit and Nature. If there is no distinction, the lines of reasoning might follow. And yet the conclusion is plainly absurd. This could be interpreted as an argument for a distinction between Spirit and Nature.
  8. Suffering does not automatically result in growth—a tragedy.
  9. Beware those who shout the centrality of love, but say nothing of truth. These do not know love.
  10. Beware those who shout the centrality of truth, but say nothing of love. These do not know truth.
  11. When I consider Singer or supply chain ethics, I can’t understand how our society would mock the concept of sin. It seems to me that we have demonstrated its reality far more completely than any previous civilization.
  12. Have you cultivated the ability to change your mind?
  13. Is contemporary, individual racism merely and simply racial prejudice?
  14. If Mill was Nietzsche’s blockhead, and Shaw was Chesterton’s, then perhaps Singer is mine.
  15. Was Jesus bold? Are you bold?
  16. How many grand German philosophers turn out to be long-winded rubbish?
  17. If Pleasure and Pain are the exclusive Goods and Evils, then the most persuasive person is the one who seems most in pain. Whoever screams loudest, wins. And, again, to emphasize, this is a legitimate position if Good and Evil are decided to simply be nicknames for Pleasure and Pain.
  18. Can a nation recover from losing faith in itself?
  19. Science as fundamental—this Science will destroy itself.
  20. You can never get a hotdog big enough or a board game long enough to suit me.
  21. What are some of the good things of life? An early cup of coffee, a pipe of tobacco, an evening of board games, the laughter of children, a story of adventure, greeting old friends, a contest of athletics, a stroll through the snowy forest, a meal of flavors, and a song that stirs. Let us love these things! Let us speak often of these things! Let us celebrate these things! Let us be grateful to Him who gave us these things!
  22. What would you die for? Do you know? Are you prepared to die? If you would not die for anything, then you may have died already. Only by risking your life can you keep it.
  23. I fear the mentality that adulthood is a slow descent into not caring.
  24. A dart of the enemy: “Look at them, look at their lives of normalcy. None of them really believe it.”
  25. It is an ignorant fool’s error to declare all war efforts evil. And it is an ignorant fool’s error to glorify war. These ones speak when they know nothing—or worse, they intentionally deceive.
  26. To think that civilization would spring from natural selection…. If true, humanity must truly be the most sickly animal on earth, as Nietzsche claimed.
  27. What does it mean to manipulate a person? And what does it not mean?
  28. What does it mean to take every thought captive? And what does it not mean?
  29. “Heaven must necessarily be boring, if it does not contain real conflict: the first lesson of literature.” Truly, among the most profound attacks on Christianity.
  30. We already have much of complexity and uncertainty. As often as you can, please, if it isn’t too much trouble, give me the simple and the clear.
  31. What is humanity without Lent?
  32. There is a time to be gentle, and there is a time to be ferocious.

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